Does such a boat exist?

[Don55]

I have a problem and need your collective wisdom to solve it. Six years ago I moved into my dream home in Fort Lauderdale Florida and my CD 28 from her slip in Stewart to my own dock behind our house. Couldn’t afford to be on the ICW but am on a canal on the New river a good distance away. At that time I had four bridges between me and the ICW but they opened on demand and I thought it would be no problem. 6 years later it is a problem. It’s nerve wracking trying to hold station while waiting for the bridge opening, the traffic is heavy, the current often swift, and the power boaters indifference to the difficulty of keeping a full keel boat steady when in reverse while crowding me so as to be through quickly not helpful at all. I’m wondering are there any sailboats in the 24 to 28 foot range with a tabernacle or other arrangement where I could motor under the bridges and raise the mast quickly after that is also a safe coastal cruiser?

[boatman61]

If you like your boat why get rid of her..
I believe you have a deck stepped mast so it should be simple enough to have a tabernacle welded up and your mast adapted to fit it..
A lot simpler than buying another boat and selling the one you have and are used to.

[Joh.Ghurt]

We had such a construction on out Kievit 27, a pretty old dutch boat. You could lower / raise the mast. Basically there was an articulated steel frame where the shrouds and the forstay was mounted on and the mast was on a tabernacle.

While sailing, the frame was flat on deck and the middle peak was attached to the bow.

To lower the mast, you ran a line between bow and peak . The frame went up the mast backwards. Raise the mast again, just crank the frame peak back to the deck. Took no more than 5 minutes and you never had to mess with the stays.

[zeehag]

what boaty said.. is practical.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

If you like your boat why get rid of her..

I believe you have a deck stepped mast so it should be simple enough to have a tabernacle welded up and your mast adapted to fit it..

A lot simpler than buying another boat and selling the one you have and are used to.

This^

[Patrigo]

Many yachts in Perth and Fremantle are able to lower their masts to get under the Swan River bridge. They have developed a method of lowering even a keel stepped mast, which has resulted in the World's best method of keel stepping a mast. For some strange reason, nobody is interested in stepping their mast this way. Swan River users are oblivious to this fact and can only rant on about the bridge. I keel stepped my mast using this idea, nearly 30yrs ago, and it does not leak, internally or externally, because it cannot leak. The accepted method, Worldwide, of keel stepping a mast has hardly changed since the days of Phonecians and Vikings. No wonder they all leak ! The only moisture I have down below is on my beer can

[OldManMirage]

I'm not sure it would be practical to lower and raise such a heavy rig in a seaway. If you have multitudes of powerboats going by creating wakes and waves I would imagine the boat rocking back and forth while you're trying to raise the mast. It seems like it would be very difficult to do.

[Greg K]

A light weight kedge anchor ready to deploy on the stern might solve your problem. As you near the bridge, drop the kedge aft ( assuming you're going with the current), cleat it and wait. Your boat will remain stable. When you see the others moving through, pull it up and off you go behind them.

I'm guessing the area is pretty shallow, so you won't have a lot of scope to deal with.


That might just be the simplest solution to your problem.

[johnn33]

Some discussion on unstepping masts
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...-194808-2.html
John

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Patrigo

Many yachts in Perth and Fremantle are able to lower their masts to get under the Swan River bridge. They have developed a method of lowering even a keel stepped mast, which has resulted in the World's best method of keel stepping a mast.

Can you provide a link with more information?

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by Greg K

A light weight kedge anchor ready to deploy on the stern might solve your problem. As you near the bridge, drop the kedge aft ( assuming you're going with the current), cleat it and wait. Your boat will remain stable. When you see the others moving through, pull it up and off you go behind them.

I'm guessing the area is pretty shallow, so you won't have a lot of scope to deal with.


That might just be the simplest solution to your problem.

Sounds good to me. Legend has it that NASA spent a million dollars developing a pressurized ballpoint pen that astronauts could use in space, while the Russians merely opted to use a pencil.
In other words, dont overthink the problem...

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Can you provide a link with more information?

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing ? Maybe the mast system has a joint just above the deck ?

[Clivevon]

Or maybe just turn round & head into the current while waiting in place...?

[boatman61]

Maybe something like this on a keel stepped mast.???

[picklesandjesse]

Originally Posted by Patrigo

Many yachts in Perth and Fremantle are able to lower their masts to get under the Swan River bridge. They have developed a method of lowering even a keel stepped mast, which has resulted in the World's best method of keel stepping a mast. For some strange reason, nobody is interested in stepping their mast this way. Swan River users are oblivious to this fact and can only rant on about the bridge. I keel stepped my mast using this idea, nearly 30yrs ago, and it does not leak, internally or externally, because it cannot le5ak. The accepted method, Worldwide, of keel stepping a mast has hardly changed since the days of Phonecians and Vikings. No wonder they all leak ! The only moisture I have down below is on my beer can

I heard that some were able to sail up to the bridge and drop the mast keeping their way up and drift through raising it again and sailing on. Never saw it though. We had a Contessa in Eindhoven in The Netherlands that had a mast in a tabernacle but that took at least an hour to raise and set sail. In order that the boat doesn't become too long you have to unhinge the mast and move it forward which is a pain. Took us 4 hours the first time, but you get better as you learn unless you age faster.